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MCC TV is very excited to bring you an in depth interview with Monrovia’s Honorable Mayor Mary T. Broh. This will be the very special, fourth episode of MCC TV, and we need your help to make it the most telling interview the Mayor has ever given. From now until July 5th, submit the questions you would like to ask the Mayor right here in our comments box. Some of the questions you submit will be asked in the interview, so please be honest with what you want to know about her plans for the city, keeping Monrovia clean, and the future of our hometown.

40 Responses to “Don’t Miss Your Chance to Ask the Mayor!”

I am a Liberian living in the UK. My question to the Mayor, why is she promoting a foreign company instill of a Liberian company. Ghana will never put a foreign company before their own. I expect the Liberian government to empower her own company and tried to support Liberian businesses. This is disgraceful to our people. Liberians are still suffering in the hands of these people. You need to wake up. We need to support our own people and learn from the war and the suffering our people went through living in some of these African countries. We need to love and support our people.

Well first, thank you for your question. As you have acknowledged, you live afar and therefore may not have all the details about this case. #1: The World Bank gives out contracts with their funds. #2: A contract that requires more than a certain amount of money becomes open to any international contractor that submits a proper proposal. The Liberian companies who wanted it did not. We have many Liberian companies that received World Bank funding for other sanitation solutions. Although Mayor tried to convince the Liberian companies to get together and collect their resources so they could compete with the larger company, each company wanted the contract for themselves, and they’re too small to do what needed to be done properly. #3: The head in charge of the said contract is Cherif Abdullah, as you can see in the photos from this contract signing on the post entitled “A Good Day for Waste Management.” He is indeed a Liberian, chair of ZoomLion Liberia. He saw what needed to be done and rather than reinventing the wheel, he assembled a team of people who can get the job done. What is, as you say “disgraceful” would be if we have experts here who are able to do jobs but greed gets in the way of their ability to accomplish large tasks. We can empower, but we have our own work to do, and that’s to do what will work for the city. Love and support is great, but it needs to be two sided. Hopefully, our businessmen can “wake up” and get their tools and resources together so they don’t miss out on the next big contract.

We will be discussing the future of the Liberian businessman in the interview, so hopefully that can address more of your questions. The 3rd episode of MCC TV should also contain a few words from a World Bank contract holder, ZBJ, which is also a Liberian company.

Having been provided the needed funds for public restrooms,and the establishement of a contract with this company”ZoomLion”,what is taking so long to put these restrooms into place where they are needed most? (crowded communities, Robertsfield hwy,the beaches,etc,etc.) If they are in place,or being put into place,show us here on the web.We want to know.People are traveling in and out of Liberia every day and bringing back all kinds of news so the only way to know is when you show us. These are not insignaficant developements please UNDERSTAND

im just curious, is there any plans of instituting a zoningcode for monrovia because i am sometimes disgusted when see shacks next to “nice looking building” and eye soar fences everywhere.It sometimes feel like every body is living in their own prison.I understand the security argument but i dont think the tall ugly fences lining tubman blvd and other main street are still necessary. Just to name a few: UNMIL Headquater,and the dirty tall fence on broad street opposite IB bank,the zink shack around old executive grounds etc

I certainly understand that public safety is important but if this story is true, how is the mayor’s action NOT abuse and unecessarily humiliating? Are we so dismissive of the humanity of the poor that we would justify this form of public punishment? How is this any different from autocrats of the recent past?

If this story is untrue PLEASE have the Mayor insist that Frontpage print a retraction or correction.

It’s true. He wasn’t just crossing the street alone. He wandered away, as stated in the article. The carelessness of parents is a serious issue. As you can see in episode 3 of MCC TV, she’s not the only one Mayor has made pump tire.

Thank you for your response Ms. Bernard. My central question however, was how is the interim Mayor’s action NOT tantamount to abuse and/or unecessary humiliation? How does the Mayor’s office justify forcing a citizen to endure physical punishment of this type for anything really? What legal authority does the Mayor have to detain a citizen (in the US this would be considered “kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment’) and decide on the spot what the punishment should be? Is the Mayhor so convinced that ordinary Liberians (particularly the poor) are so undeserving of basic respect and human dignity that they can be treated in this fashion at will? Does the Mayor not understand that this willful abuse of power is precisely what led to the frustration and violence that eventually engulfed our country?

Madam Mayor, may I seize this opportunity to commend you for the many marvelous projects that you are continuously implementing in corroboration with the executive to foster a better place for humanity.
I have been out off Liberia for a very long time and only read and listen to reports from either those in authority or the press. What we need, is a monthly video report to understand factual things occurring in Monrovia as well as other major cities that are accessible. Now, my question is: When will every tangible home in Monrovia have electricity (without money) and a sewerage board that will be responsible to provide a clean and safe drinking water? I remembered as a child, there was a German company called Raymond (If I am correct), which laid those gigantic pipes that lead to an increase in employment. This provided for people in Monrovia to use toilets in their homes with connection to sewer lines. If this project is being implemented, please give it to a company that believes in tidiness and the expertise and not one with the money (Because group of people can put money together without looking at our long-run interest); since the World Bank may be financing the project. Once this is in place, we will have healthy living and longer lives.

Well– you get frequent written reports and bi-monthly videos because we do the best with the resources we have. Thanks so much for logging onto our site, hopefully as we continue to work and document our projects, you’ll see the answers to your great questions!

Why used corporal punishment as means of addressing the many problem plagueing Monrovia today? I recently learned you asked a lady on the capitol Bye Pass to “Pump TIRE” because she reportedly left her child unattended to on the main road . Why I strongly believed that the ladys actions were irresponsible to say the least ,asking her to Pump Tire is equally irresponsible and reprehensible. Who gave you the right to play Judge. and Jury at the same time? Dont we have social services in L:iberia to address these concerns? Where is Child protective Service? While your heart may be in the right place to bring some semblance of normality to Monrovia ,Your many antics and style of going about doing your Job are sometimes, extra judicial. Its also like going back to the dark days of the war that sent over 250000 Liberians to thier demise. Stop!

Well, the “Ask the Mayor” feature was shot last week, and she did answer the question proposed about pumping tire although it didn’t make it past the editing room floor. Basically she stands behind her decision. I have to say, as someone who’s lived a few places, every government battles with the situation of ends justifying means. When you ask where child protective services is, that lets me know you probably don’t live here in order to see that what’s going on here is NOTHING like the dark days of war. In my opinion, it’s offensive to compare this to that. My concern is that I’m seeing so many comments that say what we should stop doing over here, and not enough expressing how you can help us be better. Everyone has a solution, but I don’t see any plans.

Well,it’s obvious that the mayor ment well.However this is a new era where our people needs to be trained and sensitized to the new laws of the land.(we can’t fault those who knows no better.)We must handle our differences through the proper channel or else we will be misunderstood as is the case with the mayor.
For example,with the existing facilities on the market grounds where remedial classes are already held,offenders can be taught the new laws and the consenquences of failure to abide by them.After three offences,then fines,eviction,and possible jail time if found guilty in a court of law.We have to identify repeat offenders and keep a record of them to stop them from disturbing the peace.Also I hope we do have a angency of child protective services and a juvenile delinquency instituition where these kids can be taught and held accountable for their behavior.Lets remmember todays children are tomorrow adults and LEADERS also today adults are tommorrows OLD PEOPLE . P.S.don’t even say my family will be there for me,We all know family can LET YOU DOWN.

I think there is room for a lot of improvement on everyone’s end here. While it is election season, a lot of people aren’t taking the kind of action we would want them to because they are concerned with keeping the favor of the public. My honest opinion, and I truly appreciate all of you who engage in intelligent opinion sharing on this site with me, is that we don’t have the solutions for everything, nor the reason to back all our choices, but (!) to see what we see everyday… I don’t know what our future will hold but we aren’t taking care of the ones who will preserve it.

Thanks once again for the street signs. In order for the drivers to follow the regulations or the signs that are now on the streets, they have to be educated to the facts and know that they have to follow the rules and laws of the land. I suggest driving test (written), and road test, be given to all drivers in order to get a license in the Republic of Liberia.

All drivers should be given the test in order to identify the signs on the streets; this will be on the written test. What good are the signs if the drivers do not know them? Let them all abide by the driving rules or get a ticket.

I also suggest cameras at some of our intersections in the city. This will aid the crime rate in the city and help capture traffic violators.

Again education is the key in order to accomplish the above. Driving Education recommended.

Ms. Bernard, the solution is simple: treat ALL citizens with decency and respect. Our focus ought not be on the way things currently are, but rather we should focus on the way we want things to be. If leaders insist on treating citizens like worthless animals, in due time people will rise up and lash out. We ought to learn from our history. Does the interim mayor need a “plan” for that?

Again, the solution re “child protection” is equally simple: The mayor’s office should enlist more enterprising youg committed persons like yourself to begin a massive placed-based (or neighborhood) basic education campaign. Use the campaign to teach parents and young people about hygeine, personal responsibility, traffic rules, etc.There is a young man who just graduated from Morehouse and chose to spend his time teaching at BWI right now. Enlist him and others. My point is, the solutions are simple and the energy to carry them out is sufficient. What we cannot afford is ill-timed, short-sighted, and destructive thinking that allows us to wantonly dismiss the humanity of others under some thin guise of protecting public safety, cleanliness, or decency.

HA! The young man happens to be my boyfriend… He was at Ricks for a while, now he does teacher trainings while he completes the feasibility study for the Teach for All program. We had a conversation with friends and came to the conclusion that Liberia is full of “competing priorities.” Where can one start? Clean up? Law enforcement? Legal system? Education? And, the road hasn’t been easy for us since we got here, so what can Liberia offer people our age who choose to come try to help? How can we encourage people to come back and contribute, when the life they would lead here isn’t even close to what they could do elsewhere? I may have strayed from the topic with this, but honestly, the solutions are far from simple.

Joanna,
Thanks for your comment and to some degree I agree that drivers need to be educated, however this mayor’s administration is largely responding with the necessary force that will correct some of the systemic and structural problems currently affecting the City of Monrovia.
To be clear, we have citizens in Monrovia that are still acting as if to say the country is still at war. People dumping garbage anywhere they see fit, others leaving the market hall to sell their products outside in the streets, and many more conducting themselves as if to say we are still operating in the dark days of our nation past. This is the result of high illiteracy – up to 85%, but the government cannot support those who oppose the rule of laws and code of conducts that will eventually improve the standard for everyone.

Thanks a million madam mayor, now can bring our foreign friends to a country we always called home with honor. As we all no cleaniness is next to Godliness. How can a country be established on a christian principles without been cleanup. Ms. Broh you are good to go girlllllll…………………….

Well Ms. Bernard, glad to see you have more than a passing connection with the young gentleman I was referring to. He and I also share an affiliation that started in 1906, but I too am now straying. I was home just last year for several meetings with public agency heads and the leaders of a number of local CBOs and I truly believe the solutions are simple. The reason I keep pushing you is that people like you are just young, idealisitc, and fearless enough to challenge the kind of old thinking that has our country treading water. If Liberia is to move forward in a significant way it will be because YOUNG, energetic, and self-confident people like yourselves decide that the current status quo is intolerable and unacceptable. Dream of a Liberia that is all that you want it to be and challenge leaders to step up to the plate. Remember, there are many, many Liberians who are much older now but they were younger than you when Samuel Doe threw them in jail and threatened to have them executed SIMPLY because they spoke out about creating a better society for all. I am passionate about this because those brave young people were a bit older than I was at the time but their bravery had a profound impact on the kind of person I decided to become. So, the first place to start changing minds and attitudes is to perhaps quietly remind the interim mayor that it is not her place (nor is it proper for any official) to publicly humiliate another citizen in the way she did, REGARDLESS of what that citizen may have done.

HA! They had a chapter meeting this week, so I understand there are a few of you around town. As the centennial Miss Black and Gold for the Nu Mu Chapter at Georgia Tech I’d say I have more than just a passing connection with many of you. Again, I digress.

I work for the Mayor, and I’ll be honest, I chose this office because I went to all the NGOs and wanted a place to work that actually DID work. I didn’t really even understand how awful the pumping tire made Liberians feel until all of this arose. Truth FM made her defend her actions today on the radio, but didn’t come out to the signing of the contract for a Liberian sanitation company although they were so focused on her when they believed she only gave contracts to Ghanaians. Maybe I turn a blind eye to the negative in her case because this 2011 Monrovia is so much better than the 2004 Monrovia I met when I first came back. I may not be right, and she may not be right, but I yearn for results, and I like that she produces them.

Madam Mayor Broh. I would like to volunteer my service in keeping the Monrovia eviron clean whenever I visit Liberia.I do try to visit once a year. I present work for the New Jersey Public Health and Environmental Laboratory and I want to share my educational and work exprience with your organization. I have exprience in environmental health and epidemiology.If you can ask to bring some things over regarding the keeping the environ clean I’ll be willing to do so. If there anything else you think I can assist with from where I live, I do so. Thanks to you madam Broh and Archel Bernard for the this wonderful site.

I think the reason the major is promoting a foreign company it’s simple.

1. In my view Liberian company is corrupt.
2: They are not creditable.In other words they do not have any good track record.
when you talk about development.These are the things the international organizations look for. A Country that is coming from fifteen years of war do not have the money for these programs, nor Ms Broh. Ms.Broh is just the major, even though she has some saying in these matters they are limited. The international organizations is the one that provide these funding for countrys like Liberia that is coming out of war and they make most of these discussions when it comes to funding for these services. In your question to the major you did mention Ghana. Ghana did had the same problem at one time, but they have realize the important of development and change their ways of doing business, even though their system is not perfect there is alway room for improvement. Until we as Liberians can come to that realization foreign company will continue to do for us what Liberians can do for ourself.

I do recognize that you are quite busy with matters of our Capital and government in general. I would hope, however, that you will be kind as to contact an old friend in New York, Garnett Y.K. Gbamokollie. Unfortunately, I do not have any direct contact information for you and am compelled to reach out to you in this public manner. Thanks greatly in anticipation of your kind consideration.

Great news for our beloved native land at this point and time in history, the ACE Project that is currently going on. As I was viewing the pictures from the Africa Coast to Europe (ACE) cable construction on tlc website, I could not help but send this suggestion through this means. I do know it’s not the City mayor’s problem, but the message could get to the party intended.

I suggest that proper gears (outfits, equipment) be worn by the workers at these construction sites for their own safety. I observed proper gears worn by others, but most were wearing just slippers, shorts and other unacceptable outfits for such hard hat job. There should be a uniform code and proper gears worn in certain industries in Liberia.

Hopefully, the management will look into the safety of its employees and take things into consideration.

Thanks for all the hard work that you and your staff are doing to put our beloved country back on track.